This study aimed to explore the relationships between elementary students&rsquo / epistemological beliefs, learning approaches, self-regulated learning strategies, and their science achievement. In this investigation, a model of the potential associations among these variables was proposed and tested by using structural equation modeling. It was hypothesized that (a) students&rsquo / epistemological beliefs would directly influence their learning approaches, self-regulated learning strategies, and science achievement, (b) students&rsquo / adopted learning approaches and their use of self-regulated learning strategies would be related with science achievement, and (c) students&rsquo / learning approaches were expected to be related with their use of self-regulated strategies. A total of 1240 seventh graders from 21 public elementary schools throughout the &Ccedil / ankaya district of Ankara completed measures designed to assess students&rsquo / (a) epistemological beliefs (beliefs about the Certainty of Knowledge, Development of Knowledge, Source of Knowing, and Justification for Knowing) (b) adopted learning approaches (either rote or meaningful), (c) use of self-regulated learning strategies, and (d) science achievement. Separate confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the structure of students&rsquo / epistemological beliefs and their adopted learning approaches. While the factor analyses of students&rsquo / responses to the epistemological beliefs questionnaire supported the multidimensional nature of these beliefs, some features distinct from the findings of the Western countries were identified. Socio-cultural influences were proposed to account for the observed differences in the factor structure obtained with the Turkish sample. The results of the structural equation modeling while supporting some of the proposed hypotheses, contradicted with others. Epistemological beliefs emerged as a major contributor to learning approaches and science achievement as expected, whereas those beliefs can not be used as a predictor of self-regulated learning strategies. In addition, students&rsquo / adopted learning approaches were found to be a predictor of their self-regulated learning strategies which in turn influence the science achievement in the model. Contrary to the expectations, learning approaches of the students were not found to be directly related with their science achievement.

The current study seeks to investigate pre-service elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / (PEMTs&rsquo / ) self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies within the context of their teaching practices in the field work. It was aimed to explore the SRL processes and strategies of four PEMTs while preparing mathematics lessons at their practice schools. In addition to PEMTs&rsquo / SRL strategies, the changes and adaptations through their teaching practices and reasons of those changes were also examined in the study. In total 22 pre-interviews and 22 post-interviews were made through the study. Observations were also performed for each teaching practice. Besides observations, PEMTs&rsquo / end of semester reflection papers in the context of Teaching Practice course were examined in the study. In addition to those multiple data sources, initial interviews representing detailed information about the participants were also analyzed. The overall data were analyzed by using the SRL framework combined and adapted from Zimmerman&rsquo / s and Pintrich&rsquo / s SRL models. The findings of the pre-interviews revealed that PEMTs began with a &lsquo / lesson planning process&rsquo / reflecting the forethought phase. This phase included searching resources, arranging and organizing the available sources, asking for help and feedback when needed, mental planning of the lesson, and setting goals for the teaching session. These strategies were considered as cognitive self-regulation strategies. In addition to cognitive SRL strategies, motivational factors such as self-efficacy, perception of task, and intrinsic interest were appeared in the study. Post-interviews reflecting the self-reflection phase revealed that PEMTs had a self-evaluation process covering various issues for their teaching sessions as a final step through the study. Finally, it was seen that contextual issues related to teaching practice played a substantial role in PEMTs&rsquo / SRL strategies.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of problem solving approaches on pre-service elementary teachers&rsquo / basic mathematics achievement, problem- solving performance and their self regulated learning. The study was conducted as quasi - experimental design with 110 elementary school pre-service teachers at a public university in Central Anatolia Region in the 2007-2008 academic year during the second semester. The time duration of the study was 12 weeks. Experimental group was instructed by questioning problem solving approach while control group was instructed by traditional problem solving approach. The data were collected through Basic Mathematics Achievement Test, Mathematical Problem Solving Test, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Treatment Evaluation Form, interviews and observation checklists. The quantitative data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results revealed that questioning problem solving approach had a statistically significant effect on pre-service elementary school teachers&rsquo / basic mathematics achievement, problem solving performance, task value, and control of learning beliefs, metacognitive self-regulation and effort regulation. However, there was no statistically significant mean difference between the experimental and control group in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, test anxiety, rehersal, elaboration, organisation, critical thinking, time and study environment management, peer learning and help seeking. In addition the interview results showed that questioning problem solving approach had developed pre-service teachers&rsquo / skills on Polya&rsquo / s problem solving phase which were devising a plan and looking back. The common opinions among the students about the qustioning problem solving approach that questioning problem solving approach improved their problem solving skills and they learned new ways of solution through class discussions. Moreover, they implied that they learned to think differently.

Darbe plėtojama suaugusiųjų mokymosi tema. Aptarus suaugusiųjų mokymosi sritis Mokymosi visą gyvenimą kontekste išryškinama geriausiai nūdienos individo poreikius atliepianti savireguliacinio mokymosi forma, kuomet besimokantieji patys inicijuoja, planuoja, kontroliuoja ir įsivertina savo mokymosi procesą. Vadovaujantis konstruktyvizmo teorija, kai mokymasis suprantamas kaip aktyvus konstravimo procesas. Taip pat remiantis sistemos, kuri procesų pagalba įgalina pokyčius, samprata. Formuluojamas tyrimo tikslas: atskleisti savireguliacinio mokymosi sistemos projektavimo prielaidas. Iškeliami tyrimo uždaviniai: Išryškinti savireguliacinio mokymosi struktūrą. Atskleisti empiriškai pagrįstus savireguliaciniam mokymuisi būdingus vidinius procesus. Numatyti savireguliacinį mokymąsi palaikančius veiksnius. Tyrimo objektas: Suaugusiųjų mokymasis. Tyrimo metodologija: Kiekybinė ir kokybinė, tipas - aprašomoji. Tyrimo metodai - trianguliacijos metodas: apklausos ir dalinai struktūrizuotas interviu. Tyrimo dalyvių atranka - tikslinė: savarankiškai besimokantys suaugusieji. Tyrimo instrumentai: tiesioginė atvirų klausimų anketa; virtuali uždarų ir atviro tipo klausimų anketa; atvirų klausimų klausimynas. Atlikus tyrimą savireguliacinis mokymasis išryškėja kaip cikliškas, spiralinis procesas, kurį sudaro trys pagrindinės fazės : pasiruošimas, mokymasis ir savirefleksija. Atskleidžiami stipriai tarpusavyje koreliuojantys savireguliaciniam mokymuisi būdingi vidiniai procesai. Svarbiausi... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The work concentrates on the topic of adult education. Through analysis of adult education in the context of life-long learning, a form of self-regulated learning fitting the needs of today’s individual is highlighted. Individuals employing these techniques initiate, plan, control and evaluate their own learning process according to constructivism learning theory that defines learning as an active construction of knowledge, supported by a view of a system as a set of processes that enable change. The research objective is to identify the prerequisites for designing a self-regulated learning system. Research tasks include highlighting a framework for self-regulated learning, identifying internal processes characteristic of self-regulated learners, considering factors that support and encourage self-regulated learning. Research Subject: Adult education. Research methodology: Qualitative and quantitative, type - descriptive. Research methods - triangulation: surveys and partly structured interview. Research subject selection - purposive sampling: adults engaged in self-education. Research tools - direct open-ended questionnaire; virtual questionnaire of open-ended and closed-ended questions; list of open ended questions. Research shows that the self-regulated learning is a cyclical process, composed of three main phases: forethought, performance and self-reflection. The correlating inner processes characteristic of self-regulated learners are identified. Most notably:... [to full text]

While there has been research on development of multiplicative reasoning, and how to teach multiplication facts, there is little research on how children consider they learn these. This study explores the children's learning as they consider how they commit their multiplication facts to memory, discover calculation strategies and develop multiplicative thinking. A group of eleven Year 4 children (8 years old) participated in a series of 13 lessons where they became coresearchers in the exploration of their learning. A contextually based thematic approach was provided through 'Crocodilian Studies'. The mixed-method approach to this study included formal assessment, participant observation, individual interviews, the children's written ideas, and individual case studies. The most significant finding of this study was the powerful influence of peer learning. The children enriched and directed each other's learning as they shared ideas and reflected on their own mathematical learning as they observed and critiqued the thinking of peers. As the children were involved in thinking about how they learn they were able to identify gaps and construct their own learning pathways. A significant finding was that children can develop their multiplicative strategies while they commit their multiplication facts to memory, in a relatively short time provided that the learning process facilitates strategy development and understanding. By exposing the children to multiplication facts in sequenced clusters provided them with a manageable number of facts to be learnt at one time. Another finding related to how children develop calculation strategies through lesson activities rather than being explicitly taught them. The children considered practice important for memorisation. Parental support was significant in enriching the children's learning.

本研究旨在探討大學生目的感、學生學習投入與自我調整學習之間的差異與相關。首先，以性別、年級、就讀學校性質及學校區域等因素瞭解現今大學生的目的感現況，並探討不同目的感之大學生，其在學習投入與自我調整學習之間的差異情況，最後，分析目的感層面、學生學習投入與自我調整學習三者之間的關係。 研究對象為臺灣北、中、南、東四個地區449位大學生，研究工具包含「大學生目的感量表」、「學生學習投入量表」及「自我調整學習」三部分，並以描述性統計、單因子變異數分析(ANOVA)、多變量變異數分析(MANOVA)及路徑分析(Path analysis)等研究方法進行統計分析。 主要研究結果如下： 1. 臺灣大學生之目的感以「疏離者」居多，而「有目的感者」次之，「三分鐘熱度者」最少。 2. 大學生目的感中，具有「宗教信仰」、「常參與宗教信仰的活動」、「家庭管教態度為開明權威」或「常參加社團活動」的學生具有較強烈的目的感。 3. 在大學生的學習投入程度中，以「有目的感者」表現做好，「疏離者」表現最差。不同目的感取向的大學生，在學習投入方面也有所不同；在「學習投入」總量表、「合作共學」分量表及「反思與整合學習」分量表中，「三分鐘熱度者」及「空有夢想者」表現較「疏離者」好。另外，在「自我學習策略」分量表之中，也呈現「三分鐘熱度者」表現較「疏離者」佳。 4. 大學生之自我調整學習狀況，以「有目的感者」表現最好，「疏離者」表現最差。此外，不同目的感取向的大學生，在自我調整學習方面也有所不同。在「自我調整學習」總量表、「努力堅持策略」分量表及「環境建構策略」分量表中，「三分鐘熱度者」的表現較「疏離者」良好；而在「自我調整學習」總量表、「努力堅持策略」分量表、「表現目標導向策略」分量表及「時間管理策略」分量表中，「空有夢想者」的表現較「疏離者」良好。 5. 學校環境越支持程度越高者，其學生就越具有明確的目的感。而目的感越高的學生，也會更投入於學習之中。此外，學生參與同儕合作程度越高者，監控自我的學習歷程的意願也就越高。 最後，本研究將針對上述研究結果進行討論，並提出具體之建議，以做為目前實務工作及未來研究之參考。

This study used a correlational design to examine the contribution of university students’ task understanding and self-efficacy to performance on a grade-bearing course assignment. Participants were 38 undergraduate students enrolled in a first-year elective course. Task understanding for explicit, implicit, and contextual task features was measured using a forced-choice task analyzer quiz and an adapted version of the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (Schommer, 1990). Self-efficacy for explicit, implicit, and contextual task features was assessed on a self-efficacy for performance scale. Final grade on a major course assignment was used as a measure of task performance. Results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that task understanding significantly predicted task performance and task understanding moderated the influence of self-efficacy on task performance. Findings may help to bridge these disparate lines of research and provide support for Winne & Hadwin’s (1998) model of self-regulated learning. Practical implications for facilitating university students’ success in their academic tasks are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of achievement emotions in self-regulated learning (SRL). Participants included 111 university students enrolled in a first-year course designed to teach and improve SRL. Students reported their emotional experiences while working on self-set studying goals at three times during the semester. Measures included self-reported goal attainment, intensity ratings for nine emotions, and open-ended descriptions of emotion regulation strategies. Students reported enacting a variety of strategies to regulate their emotions, often in response to boredom and anxiety. Goal attainment positively correlated with positive emotions and negatively correlated with negative emotions other than boredom. Follow-up regressions revealed that positive emotions explained more unique variance than negative emotions in goal attainment. Over time, goal attainment and emotions did not change; however, correlations between times indicated that students were reporting situation-specific emotions. Contributions of this exploratory study to theory, research, and practice are discussed.

This study investigated a number of important research questions that were prompted by the existing literature relating to the concept of responsibility for learning. Such literature has highlighted the importance of promoting personal responsibility for learning to not only students as individuals but also to the direction of education and pedagogy in general. The literature has also shown a broad concern over students’ apparent lack of responsibility as well as a lack of consensus over the precise meaning of this concept. The present study addresses gaps in the literature by exploring the following specific issues: firstly, What are students’ understandings of the concept of responsibility for learning?; secondly, How have students reported their own learning related attitudes and behaviours?; and thirdly, What are the associations between students’ understandings and their self-reports? It was also intended that data collected for the first two research questions would enable the investigation of year level and gender differences. With a methodology based on a written survey design, this study collected data from a sample of some 286 students from Australian schools in both the Primary and Secondary sectors (comprising Years 5, 7, 9 and 11). The process of data collection involved participants completing one open-ended question and two newly developed Likert-type response questionnaires that incorporated 40 individual descriptive items that were associated with six distinct subscales (i.e., Orientation Towards Schools and Learning; Active Participation in Learning Activities; Autonomy and Personal Control of Learning; Initiative; Management of Learning Resources; and Cooperation and Control of Classroom Behaviour). One scale (the SURLQ), along with the open-ended question, measured students’ understandings of Responsibility For Learning and the other scale (the SRLABQ) measured students’ perceptions of their own learning related attitudes and behaviours. The data pertaining to the first research question was analysed in two distinct ways. Firstly, students’ responses to the open-ended question were analysed qualitatively by sorting and tallying their original responses according to a determination of the themes and descriptors offered. Secondly, the responses to the SURLQ were analysed quantitatively by calculating the mean and standard deviation scores for all 40 descriptive items and hence the six subscales. Similar quantitative statistical analysis procedures were applied to the data pertaining to students’ self-reported learning attitudes and behaviours (i.e., the SRLABQ). Reliability coefficients for the SURLQ and the SRLABQ were also calculated. Descriptive data for the subscales of these two measures were cross-tabulated by year level and gender to determine whether statistically significant differences were evident. Cohen’s Effect Size calculations were applied to such differences. Statistically significant interactions between these independent variables were determined by Multivariate analysis of variance techniques. The third research question was investigated by applying correlation analysis to the mean scores of corresponding subscales and by calculating the differences between the same sets of mean scores. With respect to the first research question, it was found that according to both sets of data, students’ understandings of responsibility for learning generally supported a primarily behavioural perspective that emphasised a high degree of application to learning and relating sociably with others in the classroom. Although the SURLQ data also showed a greater acknowledgement of attitudinal components, it was noted that according to data from the two questionnaires, students did not readily associate responsible learners with being autonomous and having personal control of learning (as does the literature). With respect to the second research question, it was found that students reported themselves to be reasonably responsible learners as evidenced by the moderately high scores collected in all of the six responsibility for learning subscales. This finding led to the conclusion that the concerns expressed in the literature over students’ lack of responsibility in the classroom are not perceived by the students themselves. As the data pertaining to the third research question showed a reasonable correlation between students’ understandings of responsibility for learning and their self-reported learning attitudes and behaviours, it was concluded that students were likely to view themselves as responsible learners in a way that reflects their understandings of the concept. It was concluded that this research has important implications for all stakeholders in education. Although this study makes a major contribution to defining and describing responsibility for learning, it is evident that a lack of consensus in understanding between key stakeholders groups (i.e., researchers, educators and students) still exists. The divergence of outlook between students and various elements of the literature reinforces the need for further research to be conducted to determine the relative acceptance of behavioural compliance (and/or prudence) in the classroom versus personal control and accountability with respect to learning. It is also argued that such work would be integral to educators having a clear and unambiguous understanding of responsibility for learning so that the enhancement of this quality in students may take place in classrooms of the future.

Advocates of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a cross-cultural phenomenon that has attracted public attention throughout the world, portray them as an equalizing force in international higher education; but researchers have noted discrepancies in how learners from different countries have engaged with them. The number of MOOC learners in China is growing rapidly, and Chinese learners are enthusiastic about the unprecedented freedom they now have in selecting courses and accessing resources from the best international universities. However, they have a significantly low completion rate and may experience unique challenges about which little is known. This study took into account the diversity of MOOC learners and proposed changes to its course design to make it more inclusive for Chinese students. I used a mixed method—including document analysis, surveys, and interviews—to investigate the Chinese experience of taking Western MOOCs and also to explore the educational theories and design principles of MOOCs that have been discussed in the Western and Chinese literature. My analysis of the literature revealed issues of contextualization that may play a critical role in improving the MOOC experience for Chinese students. Drawing on theoretical educational frameworks—including motivation, community of inquiry, self-regulated learning, and social identity—my analysis of surveys and interviews identified common themes in the Chinese experience of Western MOOCs. In accordance with the results of my analysis, and also in line with interaction equivalency and situational principles, this study provided suggestions for adapting MOOCs to Chinese learners, such as enhancing content quality, improving learner–learner and learner–instructor interactions, providing social support, and collaborating with local universities and agencies in providing technical and credentialing support.